Carly Mather, Lydia Newman and Amy Ross-Sercombe are associates and Amanda Steadman is a professional support lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard LLP. They round up the latest rulings.
The Supreme Court has held that civil courts should retain their discretion when deciding whether or not to strike out equal pay claims that are time-barred from being heard in the employment tribunal.
Georgina Kyriacou and David Malamentenios are partners and Sandra Martins, Colin Makin and Krishna Santra are associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
The employment tribunal in this case took the unusual decision that the employer victimised the claimant when it allowed an Acas conciliation officer to forward her an email questioning her abilities and suggesting that she would never be promoted because of weaknesses in her literacy skills.
This is a rare example, along with Crisp v Iceland Foods Ltd ET/1604478/11 & ET/1600000/12, of an employment tribunal making wide-ranging recommendations to an employer, in this case suggesting that it provide training for its managers and HR team on maternity rights.
This week's case of the week, provided by DLA Piper, covers what constitutes an "organised grouping of employees" on a service provision change for TUPE purposes.
A large employer has been fined £5,000 by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and ordered to repay over £30,000 in wages to 40 workers who were underpaid, in a stark reminder to employers to beware of making deductions from wages for a benefit that takes pay below the national minimum wage.
In CF Capital plc v Willoughby [2011] EWCA Civ 1115 CA, the Court of Appeal held that a letter of dismissal was effective notice to terminate the employee’s contract, even though it was based on a mistaken understanding that the employee had agreed to the termination. The “special circumstances” exception to the normal operation of such a notice did not apply, so attempts to retract the dismissal did not alter the position.